There are a wide variety of ways to fasten device components together. One common component fastening approach is to use screws, particularly where the ability to disassemble the device components is desirable. This can often mean that the components to be fastened together need to have holes or other features in order to accommodate the screws, and the use of threaded holes is typical. In many cases, each of the components or items to be fastened together can have holes that are sized and threaded for a particular screw, with that screw then being inserted into aligned corresponding holes on each component.
Where the components to be fastened together are part of an overall mass produced device, such threaded holes are often built into an integrated portion of the component material itself. Multiple holes designed and aligned for each other can accommodate multiple screws for a secure fastening of components. For example, where outer housing components of a portable electronic device or other consumer product are to be fastened together in a secure fashion that permits disassembly, a plurality of strategically spaced apart screws installed into aligned screw holes on the outer housing and mating component can be a common technique.
Unfortunately, screw holes that are not adequately sized or aligned tend to be useless. As such, the use of multiple screws and screw holes spaced apart on mating components often results in the need for relatively tight tolerances with respect to the size and location of the screw holes, and of the threads therein. Of course, any introduction of relatively tight part tolerances in the context of mass production tends to increase costs, rejection rate and production times. In addition, the use of threaded holes in a device component itself can result in the need to replace the entire device component where such threads become stripped, damaged or otherwise unusable in conjunction with a suitable fastening screw.
While many designs and techniques used to fasten components together on electronic devices and other consumer products have generally worked well in the past, there is always a desire to provide further devices and techniques to allow for looser part tolerances that still result in the functional and reliable fastening of components in computing devices and other consumer products.